Church Sunday

None of the clothes I wore today were clean, but hey--That's Africa Baby! (The hotel we're staying at does have a good laundry service though, I just have not used it.) We woke up this morning back at our humble abode Uhuru, ate breakfast, and then circled up on a grassy knoll in the front of the hotel as we do everyday. During our centering we discussed the respect we would pay to faiths other than our own while attending church. Ben lead the centering and captured the sentiment.

The vans came and we drove to Matumaini. There we were reunited with the children after our weekend safari excursion. From the orphanage we walked with the children through cornfields to the neighborhood church. Their church is a beautiful building with stained glass windows, a floor, and new pews. However, according to Barry, just two years ago only the cement structure was there, and the community has since turned their church into one of the nicest buildings in that part of Moshi. One that does justice to the spirited service that we experienced.

The adults go to an earlier service, and there is a separate service just for children. The whole neighborhood was there! We saw all of the children from school, and I was delighted when I saw Zanans sitting right in front of me. The service began when a drum starting beating, and soon all the watoto (children) were singing in a beautiful harmony. There voices were angelic.

I cannot speak for everyone but my experience in the church was very interesting. I have never attended a Catholic service before and what was present for me was a mixture of the presence of a powerful faith that sustains the people of Moshi and a history lesson with a much darker feeling. The colonization and Christrianization of Africa was a dark time in history and that was going through my mind during the service. What was also present for me was love and light and the laughter of the children who clearly enjoyed the service. So it was this contrasting feeling that was present for me during church today. What an amazing experience to attend a church in a foreign country!

From church we walked back to Matumaini (like three minutes away) and hung out with the children during the time there was a meeting between Insight Leadership and Knock about the future of our relationship (which went great). Later we walked to school and picked up with our service project.

The school is really looking great! The classroom is almost finished, we just need to clean the floors really. We order 21 desks today and they are going to be built creating a most functional, very beautiful classroom in the school! The mural is taking shape and is almost finished, it looks really great. Lisi painted the spiral sun today. We are just choosing some quotes about dreams that we want to paint on the mural in English and Swahili, and we are going to finish it tomorrow. We have painted the entire school with new coats of paint and it has done wonders to brighten up the school.

Then we came back to Uruhu and washed up for dinner which was at the IndoItaliano restaurant again. Like last time our food did not come quickly (it took two hours) but we amused ourselves with games and riddles and talk about our experiences on safari. (Safari powerfully affected me.)

Tomorrow we're finishing up our projects at school and then will be having our departing feast with the whole school community! I'm really stoked!

Well that's all for tonight folks.

Amani na upendo! (Peace and love)

-Lio (Elliot)